


Filling the Gaps

by Rochelle_Templer



Category: The Monkees, The Monkees (TV)
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2017-12-06
Packaged: 2019-02-11 06:56:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12929922
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rochelle_Templer/pseuds/Rochelle_Templer
Summary: Sometimes, sacrifices needed to be made to keep things as they were....





	Filling the Gaps

**Author's Note:**

> This takes place after Monkees on the Line.

“It’s not fair!”

Mike let out a long sigh and shook his head. Peter’s tone was childish, but the fact remained that the bassist had a point.

“I know, Pete,” the Texan said, patting his shoulder. “It’s not.”

“I knew that guy was shady,” Micky said, kicking a can on the ground out of his pat. “Anyone who keeps his spare office in the broom closet has got to have something crooked going on.”

“You’re telling me,” Davy chimed in. “I’m surprised he didn’t try to run us off what his own thugs. Bet you the only reason why he didn’t was because the closet was too small for ‘em.”

“All right so that didn’t work out,” Mike said. “So we didn’t get the job. That don’ mean it wasn’t worth a shot. When you’re as broke as we are right now, you gotta run down every lead.

“Oh come off it, Mike,” Davy huffed.  “There’s running down leads and then there’s wasting our time. And we’re not going to get anywhere if we keep looking to people like that lot for a job.”

“Aw come on, Davy, you were excited too,” Micky said. “As soon as that secretary showed up, you weren’t in any hurry to leave.”

“Yeah, and we did get one thing out of it,” Peter added. “Those glazed doughnuts he had sitting out for us were the best glazed doughnuts I ever had.”

“We at least we won’t go completely hungry tonight,” Micky nodded. “But now what are we going to do? Babbitt looked even crankier than usual about the rent this time.”

“Don’ worry,” Mike assured him. “We’ll figure somethin’ out.”

“Well it better be soon,” Davy frowned. “’Cos I don’t fancy all of us sleeping in the Monkeemobile.”

“But that might be fun,” Peter said. “Sort of like a camping trip…with no camp.”

“Oh Peter….” Davy started. It wasn’t long before Micky joined in on some good natured teasing over Peter’s latest odd ideas about how to have fun.

The only one who remained silent was Mike. This was the fourth time this week a lead he had found for a potential gig had not panned out. A part of him knew that that was just how it went sometimes and that they had had dry spells before. Still, so many failures in a row was enough to make Mike question if he was really doing enough to take care of everyone.

The Texan watched the guys chase each other around a park bench and sighed again. He knew that they were still thinking about their lack of money too, even if they covered it up by goofing around. No matter what happened, they always seemed optimistic that things would work out at least somewhat in the end.

It was a trait that Mike admired about them and didn’t want to ever discourage. Even though right now he was forced to admit to himself that it wasn’t entirely practical.

‘ _We can’t just keep on like this and hope it turns out,’_ he told himself. ‘ _I gotta do somethin’.’_

Mike shoved his hands into his pockets and continued to follow his band mates as they battled each other with sticks they had found on the ground. As he walked, he glanced at some signs that were posted in the windows of the shops that lined the road.

It was then that Mike knew what he needed to do.

* * *

 

“Hey guys, don’t you think that Mike has been sleeping in a lot lately?”

Micky had lifted up his spoonful of orange juice and cornflakes to him mouth, but paused in response to Peter’s question.

“You know, now that you mention it, he has been pretty grumpy in the mornings,” Davy said before taking a swig of his coffee. “Even more than usual.”

Micky raised the spoon toward his lips again, but then gave up and sat it back down in his bowl.

“It’s not just that,” the drummer said. “It’s like he’s tired all the time now. He just hangs around here and does chores when he’s not checking the paper or calling people about jobs. He never wants to go out and do anything fun.”

“He never was one much for that, Micky,” Davy said. “You know that.”

“Yeah, I know,” Micky said. The drummer mashed his cereal down with the flat side of his spoon. “But I don’t think it’s because he’s being uptight. I think he’s just too exhausted to do anything. Didn’t ya see the way his eyes were drooping while we were practicing yesterday?”

“Maybe he can’t sleep,” Peter said as he chewed his toast. “And that’s why he goes for walks at night.”

“Wait, what?” Micky said swiveling toward Peter. “Mike’s going out at night?”

“I, I don’t know about every night,” Peter said. “But one night, I went to get myself a drink of water and I saw him sneak out the door. It seemed like he was in a hurry.”

“Right, there’s something going on there,” Davy said. “And we need to know what it is.”

* * *

 

Later that night, Peter, Micky and Davy hid in the front room waiting to see what would  happen. It took what seemed like hours, but eventually, they spotted Mike’s lanky figure sneak out of the pad and take off briskly down the street. Moving as quickly and quietly as they could, they followed him. Micky was vaguely aware that they probably looked like silent movie villains skulking about, but figured that the only thing that mattered was that Mike didn’t catch on.

A few minutes later, they saw Mike walk into an all night diner. They waited a couple of moments before cautiously creeping up to the window and looking inside. There, they saw Mike running back and forth from the kitchen with a dirty apron on. His arms were loaded with trays of plates and cups. He’d make one trip in through the swinging doors and would head right back out to gather more. When Mike wasn’t dashing about the dining area, the guys could hear the faint sounds of cutlery and ceramic clinking together.

Peter, Micky and Davy all sighed and shook their heads. It was typical of Mike to do something like this on his own and not say anything. Not so much because he didn’t trust them or value their opinions. But because he seemed to believe that sharing responsibilities meant burdening them. It was frustrating with how often it happened, and the guys often wished they could get Mike to understand why they disliked it.

However, instead of pondering this for too long, the three of them looked at each other for a moment, coming to a silent agreement before walking into the diner.

* * *

 

Tonight had been a worse night than usual for Mike on this job.

One of the other dishwashers had quit that morning, leaving the Texan to pick up the slack. It would probably mean more money, but it also meant that he’d probably be here until the next morning. And he wasn’t sure how he would explain his long absence to the guys.

A puff of steam rose from the sink of water in front of him, causing Mike to swipe at his brow. He reached over to grab a dish rag and was shocked when another hand snatched it away from him. His surprise grew even more when he looked up to see who was standing beside him.

“Micky?”                                                                          

“Hey ya, Mike,” Micky grinned at him. “How about I do the load in this sink and you do the ones in that one?”

“But I…” Mike started, dumbstruck. A noise behind him made him turn around to see Davy and Peter picking up some towels.

“Yeah, and Davy and I will dry,” Peter said.

“Wha…what y’all doin’ here?” Mike said.

“You said it yourself,” Micky shrugged. “We need some extra money. And the guy upfront said he needed some extra help tonight. So we figured…why not? We should have plenty by the time tonight’s over with.”

Mike opened his mouth to argue, but ended up looking down at the water instead. He didn’t want the guys to have to do this and was disappointed that they had figured out what was going on. At the same time though, he couldn’t deny that he was touched that they had noticed and wanted to do something about it.

Mike nodded silently and hunkered down to work. He smiled as he listened to Micky start to sing and Peter start to pester Davy. It was an annoying, chaotic noise.

It was also one that he wouldn’t trade for anything right now.


End file.
